January 26, 2010 - Tillman Says: Long, Cold Winter
Filed Under: PersonalDiscussion: C[0]mments
It’s 2010 now, and I don’t know of any deep space missions to go reactivate the spaceship Discovery. I’d been told that its orbit has begun to degrade, but still… nothing. Okay, so that joke pretty much sucks, I get it, but i just cannot resist telling it. I guess it hearkens back to my complete disappointment in the world that I grew up to live in. Where are my hover cars? Damnit, I was promised hover cars!
So, it’s late, I’m suffering from insomnia, again, and I’m on the verge of entering a creative phase. I’m going to learn more about CSS coding so that I can play with Marshall’s website when I can. Only problem is, my arm is still pretty much useless if I use it for more than thirty minutes. After that, I get constantly surging pain shooting through my arm, and my fingers feel like they’ve been broken.
Enough about that though. To the left you’ll see a fairly recent picture of my best buddy (other than my wife), Riley Thomas. Riley Thomas is the most interesting cat in the world! He’s grown up to be quite the character. He’s incredibly spoiled and very vocal when he wants something.
I’m currently on the last book of Anne Bishop’s The Blood Jewels Chronicles and I’ve gotten quite addicted to it. Lucivar and Daemon are awesome, and Saetan really reminds me of one of my characters as well. It gets pretty dark and a bit sexual, but I still loved it.
I’m also working with the program WriteitNow to begin writing my novel about my old Everquest character Motoko. I am having to rebuild the world from scratch, including geography, mythology etc. Long endevour.
Anyway, more later.
November 9, 2009 - Tillman Says: Pile of Cats
Filed Under: PersonalDiscussion: C[0]mments
It’s 2:30 am, Monday November the 9th. I am unable to sleep due to the medication that I’m on. My arm is in absolute agony, and I am not getting any relief. Two weeks ago I went on short term disability for the nerve damage in my arm. It’s excruciating, and I cannot use a normal desktop computer any more.
I am using a laptop now, which is a bit easier for me to deal with, except when I need to use a mouse… that’s when the real pain kicks in.
Docs are talking about using a device called a spinal stimulator on me. It will supposedly send little electric charges into my spine, helping reduce the amount of pain I feel in my arm. I’m not thrilled with that idea.
I need to make an appointment to go see a psychiatrist that deals with chronic pain. Maybe he’ll be able to help. I hope so. Sometimes I worry that people think I’m making up how much pain I’m in. I worry about it, but cannot do anything about it.
My wife is patient and understanding, but I’m sure she’s at the end of her patience as well. Poor thing. She got a lemon of a husband when she married me.How-I-Roll.com is going to get yet another face lift. Since I cannot play WoW anymore, I’ve decided to change the theme of the blog to a creative writing blog. Sometimes it will be just rambling from my end as I have little story fragments that come to me in dreams, and sometimes it will be complete stories. We’ll see how that goes.
In other news, Marshall has started working on our comic book. He’s gotten a few pages done now, and I’m anxious to see the rest. Of course, that means I’ll have to start writing again. And, if I have to begin writing, I will probably need to invest in a good digital recorder and a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking. That way I won’t have to type so much.
The young lass featured in this post is Vera, illustrated by Marshall Griffin. She is one of the characters from our comic book. If you like the artwork, please drop by Marshall Griffin’s website at http://www.animeflux.com or http://animeflux.deviantart.com.
I’m going to try and keep this blog a bit more updated now. No reason not to. It’s not like I don’t have the time.
Ciao for now.
August 22, 2009 - Tillman Says: Things
Filed Under: UncategorizedDiscussion: C[0]mments
It’s been a long time since I updated this page. I have been tempted to redirect it to my facebook page, but I’m not sure I’m ready to do that yet.
A lot has changed in the past several months. We have 2 new kittens, Malcom and Riley, both of whom I adore. I do feel bad for Laurie though, I adopted Malcom with the intention of him becoming her cat. For the first several weeks, I would barely acknowledge his presence in order to help with the bonding proccess. Unfortunately, he now runs from her all of the time. He doesn’t really run from me though. In fact, he seems to really enjoy being around me sometimes.
Riley is the only purebred animal I’ve ever purchased. We bought him from a local breeder. He is a Seal Point Siamese, and is absolutely adorable. He loves all of us and lets us pick him up and love on him. He sleeps with me every night, curled up between my ankles… UNDER the sheets. I’m not sure why he likes to burrough so much, but he does.
I’ve been recovering from the third surgery on my arm, and unfortunately this one has become very difficult to recover from. It seems that every hour is a new experience.
In other news, I’ve been thinking about opening a new business. A comic book store in Canton, Ga.
July 17, 2009 - Tillman Says: Today is the Day
Filed Under: PersonalDiscussion: C[0]mments
Well, here I am, in bed, recovering after my surgery. Right arm is all but useless. Updating with just my left hand is time consuming.
More later.
September 22, 2008 - Tillman Says: WTFUGOTPWNEDLOLUSUCK
Filed Under: PersonalDiscussion: C[0]mments
Good gravy, has my life been hectic lately.
Shortly before Dragon-Con, my co-worker turned in his 2 weeks, leaving me holding the bag yet again. This is the second time in under a year that the other network administrator has left me high and dry. Now, my paperwork has doubled, I’m on the phone all the time, and I’m grumpy. Grumpy grumpy grumpy.
I want to try and focus on the positives, but it’s hard. Hard, but not impossible I suppose.
Dragon-Con was a below-average weekend. I had to work through the first day of it, missing tons of good time with the rest of the geeks out there, but I eventually made it down, had a few drinks with the Nistlers, and chilled out with my friends and family. The second day (or my first real day), however was less exciting. I ended up having very bad headaches the entire day that didn’t go away until Sunday morning. It took the wind right out of my sails, and I just didnt have much energy or desire to do anything.
The one saving grace to the entire day was getting to meet Edward James Olmos. I have been a fan of his since I was a kid, watching Miami Vice. Lizzie also got to meet Hayden Pantierre from Heroes. They were both very nice, and I’ve posted pics:
This past weekend, Marshall and Howard came down to visit us and go to Anime Weekend Atlanta. It was a pretty cool weekend. I got to sit at Marshall’s table with him and go buy some stuff and over all, have a great time. I think I had more fun at AWA than I did at Dragon-Con this year, but probably because of the company I was keeping.
August 30, 2008 - Tillman Says: Dragoncon Day One PT 2
Filed Under: PersonalDiscussion: C[0]mments
So it is about 5:10 and I am sitting in the newly renovated Marriot hotel, waiting to be let in to the “So Say we All” panel.
The mission: get in without standing in line. Wish me luck.
I just got my photo back from the photogropher, and it is a great picture, but it has depressed the ever loving shit out of me. I am a gigantic fatass. I hate looking at myself. Beginning ASAP, I am going to get back on to atkins and really begin pushing on the workout front.
August 30, 2008 - Tillman Says: Dragoncon Day One
Filed Under: PersonalDiscussion: C[0]mments
Here Is the line in front of my while I wait in line for my photo with Edward James Olmos, one of my favorite actors. I got his autograph earlier, along with Michael Hogan and Tahmoh Penikett from Battlestar Galactica. Mr. Olmos was very nice, and had his daughter with him at the table, which was cool, because I had Lizzie with me, so there was an instant fatherhood connection. I was thrilled to meet him.
I also met Michael Rosenbaum from Smallville and reintroduced myself to Nathan Fillian from Firefly and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along blog. Lizzie got her picture with Hayden Panettiere from heroes earlier today as well. Looks like Hayden cropped off all her hair.
Honestly though, today has kind of sucked all around for me. I’ve been feeling sick, had a non-stop headache. I have popped more pills today than I probably should have. Later on I plan on going to the Battlestar Galactica Panel. I hope that is fun.
August 24, 2008 - Tillman Says: Iphone pt. 2
Filed Under: PersonalDiscussion: C[0]mments
I haven’t posted a pic of Ms. Urd in a while, so here we go. Taken with my new iphone, here is Urd in her comfy chair, where she sits and watches over me, to make sure I don’t screw something up.
I haven’t written a good bit in a while, and that’s probably going to change now. My arm is out of the cast, the nerve pain has subsided to the point where I can work, and my creative juices are flowing.
Laurie got a used Mazda RX-8 the other day, and I’ve been learning how to drive stick. Not too difficult for me, since I already know how to drive a motorcycle. It is a bit tough for me to get going initially, but once I have it in motion, I’m good. It’s a beautiful car, and I can’t wait to drive it more, but my big passion for it is going to be modding it with new stuff, fixing up what is already there and making it just the way Laurie wants it. YAY for project cars.
I’ve also finally finished up on Marshall’s new website design, and it’s pretty spiffy if I do say so myself. Go check it out at www.animeflux.com.
August 23, 2008 - Tillman Says: Iphone, Uphone, We All Phone for IPhone
Filed Under: PersonalDiscussion: C[0]mments
Well, this will be a very short entry, as I am mostly testing out an app that I downloaded for my new Iphone.
I am in love with it so far, though the keyboard is going to take some getting used to.
More later!
July 11, 2008 - Tillman Says: The Best Part About Being Me
Filed Under: PersonalDiscussion: C[0]mments
Today, I am sitting in bed, recovering from the surgery that I had done on Wednesday. The doctor had to go in and remove a neuroma from the end of one of the nerves in my arm. The procedure went well, and I hope to make a full recovery and have no side effects. Through the past 9 months, I have gone from good to bad, better to worse. I’ve been in all sorts of pain, both physical and emotional. I’ve had two surgeries done, and have worried about whether I’d lose the use of my right arm. Through all of it though, the one thing that has been steady and true. The one thing that has never wavered, has been the love and support of my family, especially my wife, Laurie. She’s not only the most beautiful woman I know, but she’s also my best friend, my co-conspirator, my drinking buddy, my snugglebunny and my soulmate. I know that for a fact. I can’t imagine what my life would be without her, but i do know what it is with her… wonderful.
Since I met Laurie, my life has been nothing short of the most exciting time of my life. Waking up with her in my life everyday is the best of all gifts. This year alone, we’ve gone to see Eddie Izzard, Colin Meloy, and Jon Stewart. We’ve seen our daughter get another level of her black belt and have seen her dive into her cheerleading. She’s been there for me every step of the way during my health problems, and I love her for it.
I probably don’t tell her enough that I love her, but I hope she knows. But, for the record… without Laurie in my life, I just wouldnt have a reason to go on.
And… one final note…
Fatherhood can be tough sometimes. Especially when I didn’t get to begin my fatherhood with a newborn. Instead, I was handed the responsibility for raising a six year old child. In the past five years, my step-daughter Lizzie and I have gone through our patches. It’s been hard on both of us, learning to cope with one another. But, I know from experience that it was probably harder on her. See, as I like to point out to her every once in a while, we have more in common than she thinks. I too was about 6 years old when my mother got married. I too had to learn to live with a man who, while not my biological father, was going to raise me as his own. I too felt the need to rebel and test my limits with him occassionally. But there is one key difference between my daughter and me.
She is a better person now, than I will ever be. Lizzie is smart, beautiful, kind, friendly, open and gregarious. She excels at everything she does, whether it be her schoolwork, Tae Kwon Do or now, cheerleading. She has a wonderful life ahead of her, and I cannot wait to see it unfold. I cannot wait to help her through her hard times and cheer with her during her good times. Soon, she will be my legally adopted daughter, and I am so excited pretty soon, my last name will become hers as well. My only concern now is keeping the boys away from her when she grows up… she’s going to be too beautiful. I know it already.
My wife and daughter mean the world to me. Without them, I am nothing. They make me a better person simply by being around them. They’ve learned to deal with my gruffness and excuse my rough exterior.
So, as simply as I can put it… I love you Laurie and Lizzie, and I always will. This post is for you, because you two are the best part about being me.